The Questions are More Important Than the Answers

Tag Archives: economic growth and development

Central banks

Since I started learning about bitcoin as an alternative to traditional paper money, I have often wondered why we have come to accept banking as it is constituted today. There are lots of problems with the current banking system but we are so conditioned to it that we don’t consider it’s problems to be problems.

We accept all the problems with banking to be normal. Is it normal that a signed cheque should take days to clear? Why is it expensive to send money from the west to developing countries? Why do banks close at a certain time? Why is access to my own money controlled by institutions like banks and governments?

Central banks decide how much money to print and put into circulation. They are causing financial exclusion by their actions. Is poverty a conscious decision made by banks and those who control them?

There are many questions that need answers but most people have never thought to ask. We have never realised there are problems until bitcoin started solving them.

Fiat currency

Fiat currency is backed by the trust we place in the government issuing it. When we begin to lose trust in the issuing authority, then the currency crumbles like a deck of cards.

Fiat currencies have crumbled in many countries including Zimbabwe. The question is why? Why do we lose trust in government and central banks? Their decisions have caused financial exclusion. There are billions of people across the who are either unbanked or underbanked. The golabal financial system has failed to appreciate the value that these people bring to the table.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin is a financial disruptor. It is a peer to peer payment system without a central controlling authority. Anyone can participate including the unbanked and underbanked. Its value is derived from its network of users

Bitcoin solves all the problems that we are facing with banks and institutions.

The agricultural and industrial revolutions put the west on firm path of economic growth and development. They have never looked back. Currently they’re leading in cutting edge research and development in new areas such as genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics. The economic benefits are obvious as new products and services will come from the practical implementation of some of the research findings. We’re in the middle of the technological revolution yet Africa is still to take charge of its own agricultural revolution. Africa receives food aid from the west yet we have the most arable land on the planet. We could easily feed the entire world.

If we could commercial scale farming, we would be well on the path to food security. A well fed workforce has the energy to work and generate economic growth and development. African governments have done little to invest in science and technology research and development. That means we will always be a market for western products and services.

To slowly reverse this embarrassment, it is prudent for African governments to appreciate the importance of research and development as drivers of economic growth and development. The Americans through DARPA, have been able to support their own innovative entrepreneurs and smart creatives to develop products and services with a global market.

Africa needs to invest in the research and development of science and technology and it needs to do it now through government and universities.